Chapter 21 – Jenny
I wake up to the sound of male footsteps thudding about my apartment. That’s a sound I could get used to hearing. I yawn and stretch, feeling the warm spot on the bed beside me where Ty was sleeping. I bury my face in his pillow and inhale. His smell is still there. I yawn and stretch, hearing the water in the bathroom sink running.
Ty is checking his hand as I enter the bathroom and lean against the door jam. He hasn’t bothered to put a shirt on, and I can’t say I mind.
“How is it?” I ask him.
“Not great,” he replies with a grimace, peeling the last sticky piece of gauze off his palm.
“Does it hurt?” I ask stupidly.
“Sure doesn’t feel good,” he says, forcing a smile.
I come over beside him and slide my hand up his back, doing my best to comfort him. His skin is warm and smooth and I can feel the taught muscles underneath. It’s then that I notice the scars.
There are several of them across the side of his arm and his back, just below his shoulder. They’re pretty big, and I can’t help but wonder if they were made by bullets.
He got the tattoos to cover them, I realize. He wants to forget.
There is so much more to this man than meets the eye. Who could have ever suspected the jerk at the bar asking me to flash him would turn out to be the most complex man I’ve ever met in my life?
“The fight’s tonight,” Ty says, wincing as he washes his wound. I twist my lip.
“What are you going to do?”
It takes him a minute to answer, like he knows what to say but can’t bring himself to say it. Finally, he brings his eyes up to meet mine, and I see a look on his face I’ve never seen before.
“Jenny,” he says firmly. “Can you really picture a life with me? Would you come away with me? If we could. Could you leave this place? Could you leave with me?”
His words cause me to shutter, and I pull my hand away from him like I’ve just been shocked. I have. I wasn’t expecting that. I can only stare blankly at him, and I wish I could say I was thinking about, contemplating, weighing the pros and cons, but the truth is—I already know the answer.
“Yes,” I say. The word comes out as barely a whisper and hangs there like the most delicate of things that might shatter or drift away if we say the wrong thing. Slowly, something close to a smile comes over Ty’s face, but it’s more like he’s contemplating something himself.
What is he thinking? I want to know.
“I have to fight tonight,” he finally says. “I have no choice. But I think I may have a way out of this. But we’ll have to leave here. Are you sure you’re okay with that?”
“Yes,” I say.
“And Josh and Ella? They’ll be okay?”
“Josh changes schools next year anyway,” I say. “And Ella hates hers.”
“Good.”
“Ty,” I say, almost afraid to ask. “Are you saying … we would live together? Be a family?”
“Yes,” he says quickly and firmly. “I swore I’d never let another woman into my heart, Jenny. But with you … with you there was nothing I could do.”
I feel a tear slip from my eye and roll down my cheek.
Don’t cry! I think, almost out of reflex. I’ve spent so long hiding my emotions, not letting anyone in, not letting my children see me upset. I have had to be strong for them, and it wasn’t until now that I realized just how repressed I have been. Looking at Ty, I understand that this is a man I don’t have to hide from. This is a man who will always accept me. I give up holding back, and let the tears fall.
Ty’s arms are instantly around me, holding me tightly against him. He presses my face against his chest and kisses my head.
“It’s okay. It will be okay,” he assures me, stroking me with his strong hands. “Get everything together that you need, everything you can’t leave behind, and pack it up. Can you do that?”
He pulls back and looks at me right in the eyes, and it’s like I can feel our connection. It’s almost like I’ve known him my whole life. I was always a romantic, before life got me down, but I feel like this is the man I’ve been missing. This is the man I’m meant to be with. I guess the reason I don’t feel bad thinking this, is I can see in his eyes that he thinks the same about me.
‘Yes,” I say softly.
He smiles and kisses me. “Good. I was hoping you would say that. I don’t want to be without you ever again, Jenny.”
“I don’t want to be without you either,” I say, feeling like I’ve just stepped into a dream.
“Can you help me with my hand?” he asks me.
“Of course,” I say, pulling a fresh roll of gauze from the vanity. Ty sits on the edge of the tub and I sit down beside him, gently wrapping his hand. This is the kind of thing that most girls I know would whine about—having to help their husband or boyfriend like this, but I love it. I will take care of this man for the rest of his life, and he will take care of me.
Near the end of our relationship, I wasn’t even sleeping with Colin. I didn’t want anything to do with him, and that’s putting it nicely. It was like we were two people with two different lives living under the same roof. I can’t see that ever happening with Ty, and that’s just not me being romantic. Since Colin I’ve developed a very keen sense for people and their warning signs, and not only do I not see any of those with Ty, but I see the signs that tell me he is a good man.
And so do my dogs!
So does Josh!
I finish wrapping his hand and lean my head on his shoulder, my hand gently covering his. I can practically hear his mind whirring. I don’t know what he’s planning to do, and I don’t know if I should ask. If it’s dangerous, I’m going to be a nervous wreck. I have a feeling it is though. If these men are really as dangerous as he claims, he’s going to have to do something drastic.
“Ty,” I say softly.
“Yes?”
“Do I need to be worried?”
“No,” he says, standing up. He turns to me and I see a look of determination on his face. A look of resolve. He knows what he’s going to do, and I have faith in him. But I still don’t want to know. I’m going to worry enough as it is, I don’t need the details.
“I need to get going,” he says. “There’s some things I have to work out. But please, Jenny. Have everything ready. Okay? I’ll sort this out and we can get out of here. We’ll leave all this behind and never look back.”
Ty kisses me on the forehead and steps past me into the living room. I turn to see him pulling on his jacket. Without looking back, he pulls open the door to the apartment and steps outside. I feel afraid and excited at the same time. My life is about to take a big turn, and even though I’m ready, I’m scared, because I don’t know where that turn will take me.